Punkin' Chunkin'. Nuff' said.
Okay, I'll go further in depth.
I don't know if you've ever seen Punkin' Chunkin', but there's nothing I've wanted to do more at school than shoot pumpkins out of cannons. With the almighty power of Calculus at our sides, we can come up with some advanced calculations based around projectile motion and the slopes of objects in the air. Then we can use those handy dandy engineering skills most of us have from last semester to create the ultimate pumpkin spewing machine.
It's the perfect idea.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Friday, February 18, 2011
QQC 12
"Six is a number perfect in itself, and not because God created all things in six days; rather, the converse is true. God created all things in six days because the number is perfect..."
It's interesting when people bring mathematics and religion together. It almost seems counterintuitive. But when you look around and realize there is advanced math in the beauty of nature, you pause for a moment and consider the possibility that there may be something out there shaping the universe in an intelligent way.
Is there such a thing as an intelligent designer? Take a grandfather clock for example, a grandfather clock doesn't assemble itself spontaneously without provocation. There is always a clock maker, or so the argument is made. But perhaps our universe is the way it is because of some small chance during its creation. Who knows? Perhaps there was a universe before ours, with laws of physics far beyond our comprehension, with life unimaginable to us. Our universe could be one of an infinite number of possibilites.
It's these sorts of things that make it hard to sleep sometimes.
It's interesting when people bring mathematics and religion together. It almost seems counterintuitive. But when you look around and realize there is advanced math in the beauty of nature, you pause for a moment and consider the possibility that there may be something out there shaping the universe in an intelligent way.
Is there such a thing as an intelligent designer? Take a grandfather clock for example, a grandfather clock doesn't assemble itself spontaneously without provocation. There is always a clock maker, or so the argument is made. But perhaps our universe is the way it is because of some small chance during its creation. Who knows? Perhaps there was a universe before ours, with laws of physics far beyond our comprehension, with life unimaginable to us. Our universe could be one of an infinite number of possibilites.
It's these sorts of things that make it hard to sleep sometimes.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
QQC 11
"The speed at which a trained abacus user can calculate sums is remarkable, and proficient users are even able to visualize the movement of beads in their heads in order to achieve astonishing feats of mental arithmetic."
I know this hasn't got much to do with the reading, but I've always thought abacus's were so cool. I saw this one thing on discovery where these Chinese math prodigies were able to visualize the abacus in their heads and do crazy calculations. It was neat.
Dave should give extra credit points to anyone who can learn to use an abacus.
One problem I had with the reading was it wasn't quite clear on the true discovery of fractions. It talked about how the Pythagorian society contemplated the sub-multiples, then it jumped to the Romans using fractions for trading. So who, when, and where were fractions truly discovered? Is it unknown as to who really did it? Or was it missing from the book we were reading?
But anyway, I really wanted to profess my admiration for the abacus. I wouldn't be surprised if Dave could use one really well.
I know this hasn't got much to do with the reading, but I've always thought abacus's were so cool. I saw this one thing on discovery where these Chinese math prodigies were able to visualize the abacus in their heads and do crazy calculations. It was neat.
Dave should give extra credit points to anyone who can learn to use an abacus.
One problem I had with the reading was it wasn't quite clear on the true discovery of fractions. It talked about how the Pythagorian society contemplated the sub-multiples, then it jumped to the Romans using fractions for trading. So who, when, and where were fractions truly discovered? Is it unknown as to who really did it? Or was it missing from the book we were reading?
But anyway, I really wanted to profess my admiration for the abacus. I wouldn't be surprised if Dave could use one really well.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
QQC 10
"If you live at that time - no matter how intelligent you were - you would have struggled to tell the difference between six applies and seven, just by looking. Even though you had the same eyes and the same brain, you would have found it hard to tell the difference. Why? Because counting hadn't been invented."
I remember as a kid I would think about things like this. "How did we get numbers?" or "How were ;languages created?". This would eventually lead into some sort of circular logic or rational dead end, and I would instead move on and play with Legos or some similar childish activity.
How was it that the human mind came to create a way to communicate numbers, or anything for that matter? How would the person that came up with a language communicate it to other people without the use of language? It's all very confusing, and baffled me to no end as a kid.
Even now, as a much smarter person, I still find it hard to fathom the difficulty with which the early man created ways of expressing ideas and communicating.
I remember as a kid I would think about things like this. "How did we get numbers?" or "How were ;languages created?". This would eventually lead into some sort of circular logic or rational dead end, and I would instead move on and play with Legos or some similar childish activity.
How was it that the human mind came to create a way to communicate numbers, or anything for that matter? How would the person that came up with a language communicate it to other people without the use of language? It's all very confusing, and baffled me to no end as a kid.
Even now, as a much smarter person, I still find it hard to fathom the difficulty with which the early man created ways of expressing ideas and communicating.
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